Semper Fi
by Neyvahn
Summary: Thanks to Noble Six's sacrifice, mankind's greatest chance for survival escapes the fall of Reach, but Six remains on the planet awaiting certain doom. She will either die by glassing or by the clean-up teams beforehand. All others are dead and she is forced to face impossible odds she knows she will not survive... unless... (Sneak Peek. Leave review for continuation!)
1. Spartans Never Die

_-Reach fell. There was no stopping it. The Covenant were ruthless, unforgiving, and vast in numbers. It didn't matter how much firepower was brought in because at the end of it all, there was only one way things were going to end. Reach would fall. It was inevitable.-_

 **_oOo_**

A few places on Reach weren't glassed yet. Their war-torn ruins would only paint the invasion's events for a short amount of time, however, as the Covenant super-carriers loomed above Reach's skies, moments away from turning the rest of the planet to glass. Fallen soldiers, weapons, vehicles, and buildings would all melt into a burning landscape as soon as those ships flew overhead.

Noble Six knew that. All she could do was wait with bated breath for a cremation by the hands of the Covenant, if she didn't get hunted by the clean-up teams first. They always came right before a glassing... but why? They were already going to kill everything in the area, there was no need for a team to go in and do that themselves. It was unnecessary, a gross misallocation of valuable resources. They were risking the loss of troops for stupid reasons.

Noble Six pulled her rifle up and shouldered it. Whatever the method of death, she was going to bite the dust soon. At least she would die fighting a bunch of Covies. Six wouldn't have it any other way.

Covie drop ships touched down and started unloading troops to investigate. However, the sand storm was putting them at a disadvantage. Six's worn down, sand-covered armor barely stuck out in her surroundings and gave her the upper hand, leaving her completely unnoticed by her opposing forces. She kept low and moved into the closest building. A few bodies resided in the dark corners, each one dawning bloodied UNSC armor. Poor bastards. Unfortunately, Noble Six didn't have any time to give them a proper burial. She continued on and stealthily moved from building to building.

After a few moments of sneaking around, the banter of Elites and Grunts grew loud enough to hear above the storm. At this point, Six had two options. She could either remain silent and unseen only to be glassed in the end... or she could go out in a firefight, and bring down a bunch of E.T. bastards with her.

With a deep breath, the lone spartan reached around her collar. Five dog-tags on their chains fell into her hands, each one from the lost members of Noble Team. George died thinking he had just saved the planet. Kat lost her head, the only good thing about her. Carter went down with the ship... And Emile. He died fighting off Zealots armed with energy swords. How ironic to think his affinity for sharp objects would come to be the death of him.

And then the last set of dog tags: Her own. In her eyes, she was already gone. This was simply her dying echo, something to remind the Covenant of their demons. After this fight, those dog tags would take place among the rest of Noble Team's, only to be glassed and forgotten. After taking one last look at the retrieved tags, Six shoved them back into their place and unsheathed her combat knife. Her motion sensor was picking up three pings on the other side of the wall. Probably an Elite and two Grunts.

Leaping through the doorway, Six locked eyes on a shield jackal and two grunts. Easy targets. She leaped on the jackal and crushed it with its own shield, then proceeded to stab the knife into one of the grunt's domes. Like a hot knife through butter, the blade sliced right through the little bastard's brain. The remaining grunt whimpered in fear and began to run away. It screamed bloody murder before its neck was forced further than it could handle, snapping and disconnecting.

Six cursed to herself as the nearby forces were alerted to her presence. There was no turning back now. But yet... her heart felt heavy. Why was she feeling dread? She faced death every day, and every day she beat it off her doorstep. Six should be used to it... But this time? Death wasn't leaving her.

After shouldering her DMR again, Six stood up and took notice of the forces to her west. Mostly jackals and grunts, but there were a few elites walking around. She aimed her scope at the closes minor elite and fired multiple times. The first shot ricocheted off and alerted him, but the other bullets came swiftly and eventually broke through both the shields and the head. One elite down. Noble Six then turned her attention to the other troops and picked them off one by one.

However, more troops were closing in fast. They were sending in less grunts and more jackals, then less jackals and more elites. Before she knew it, entire squads of elites were hunting her down. Six swore as a plasma shot burned right through the front of her visor. Any closer and she'd be missing half a brain. Her HUD started bugging out and she couldn't see the ammo-counter. It didn't matter though, she knew how much ammo she had. Soon enough, another shot dug into her helmet and took out her motion tracker. All that was left was her shield levels.

Six cursed to herself and backed away, taking cover underneath a pipeline. Soon enough, Elites with concussion rifles and energy swords crowded the surrounding buildings, closing in on Noble Six uncomfortably quick. Had she not picked up a Drop Shield off of one of the fallen Spartans, she would be long gone by now. She dropped the bubble shield to recover a little bit, then fell back away from the attacking forces. Another Elite armed with an energy sword charged her, and barely missed his mark as he was lit up with assault rifle fire.

As more and more Elites showed up, Six just growled in her throat. If they sent more, she'd just kill more of them. Until they stopped her from breathing, she was going to drain them of troops. Unfortunately, the Wraiths and Banshees patrolling the area turned their attention on her. Explosives rained down and put the pressure on her. She was able to dodge a few of their attempts, but the amount of pure fire from those banshees was too much. Six's shields dropped and left her exposed after a well placed fuel-rod shot from a banshee.

Only moments afterwards, a lucky shot from a needle rifle broke right through the side of her helmet, completely disabling whatever was left of the HUD. Six flung the helmet off her head, stumbling around enemy fire all while cursing to herself. On the ground next to a downed ONI security guard was an assault rifle, and its display showed a full clip in it.

 _One last push, come on... Come on!_

Six grabbed at the rifle and shouldered it. Damn Elites were gonna get it now. She fired the rifle at an advancing Ultra until it collapsed to the ground with depleted shields. One down, a fuck-ton to go. A smart-ass behind her snuck up with an energy sword and tried to swing at her. However, she dodged and retaliated with an elbow to the face, reaching to the Magnum on her hip to finish the job. Two down, still a fuck-ton to go.

A barrage of plasma fire pulled Six's attention to an Elite about ten meters away. She only got a few shots off before another stream of blue fire hit her across the gut though. With two Elites advancing on both sides, Noble Six fired the assault rifle from her hip against one Elite, and fired the magnum on the other. Against all the odds, both Elites fell at the cost of Six's remaining ammo. With countless Covies closing in, things were looking hopeless. An Ultra knocked Six off of her feet. She went to kick it away, but her strength was fading fast. More Elites closed in, some of them Zealots. One tried to stab her, but she rolled to the side and elbowed the sword out of its hand.

It was only at this moment that Noble Six's heart began to weigh down on her. She didn't want to die.. and it had taken her countless years to realize that. She wanted to believe that she had come to terms with the fact that she wouldn't live through this... but she was never prepared. Just the view of so many Elites crowding around her scared her to death. She didn't want to go out like this. She didn't want to die.

The Ultra tried to pounce back on her, but Six socked the sucker right in its jaws again. Another stab attempt from a Zealot, one she could dodge and counter-attack. What she couldn't react to though, was an identical attack from the other side. The dual-pronged blades of an energy dagger pierced her wrist and pinned her to the ground.

Six screamed out in pain, her voice refusing to stay down. Regardless of her attempts to kick and punch them away, they overpowered her and pinned her limbs to the ground. Her arms wouldn't move, her legs locked to the floor... All she could do was look up at her executioners with disdain in hopes of hiding her fear.

She spat blood at the one who stabbed her right wrist. That Elite was her least favorite right now. However, none of the Elites pulled out any guns except for a single Zealot who stood above her with a sword at her throat. It didn't move it though...

Instead, the bastard studied Noble Six, as if deciding what to do with her. Then, in its native tongue, the Zealot sheathed its energy sword and barked a few orders at the Elites holding Six down. She tried pulling away, completely unsure as to what they were doing, then she realized. In her last effort, with all of her remaining strength, Six pulled against the Elites. She struggled as hard as she could, hopelessly trying to get away, but to no avail. These Elites... They weren't going to kill her. They had a better opportunity...

... An opportunity to interrogate her.


	2. Missing in Action

**_oOo_**

 **72 Hours After the Fall of Reach**

 **Truth and Reconciliation, Detention Center A-2**

Miraculously, Noble Six survived the Fall of Reach... but only to become a prisoner in the hands of the Covenant. With her broken helmet remaining on the surface of a broken planet, she was forced to board a Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser. Six couldn't even watch as the bastards torched what was left of Reach. They shoved her into the brig before they had even taken off, and she had no chance to retaliate. They removed her armor, restrained her, and left her in a barren cell. Now all she had was the skin-tight undersuit, and she didn't even know what they did with her armor.

As the cruiser took off away from the burning planet, Noble Six couldn't help but wonder why she was still alive. They should've killed her, put an energy sword right through her heart... but no. They decided to capture her instead. Why though? Elites and Brutes were never known to bring in prisoners, it was always a kill-on-sight order, _especially_ for a Spartan. The Covenant didn't interrogate, it just wasn't something they did.

Or at least that was the assumption. Subconsciously though, Six knew what she was saying was a lie. The Covenant _did_ capture and interrogate, she had witnessed the aftermath herself. It was when she took her first mission as an official member of Noble Team. On the way to the relay in Visegrad, they came across two UNSC soldiers, bloodied and interrogated with three-toed footprints surrounding them... The Covenant _did_ capture and interrogate, but Six didn't want to believe it.

This was worse than death. Now Noble Six was forced to suffer for the sake of information for her enemies, all on what they labeled "the fleeing ship." She could only guess they meant the Pillar of Autumn. Her interrogators wanted her to tell them the ship's weak points, its defense measures, and its command team.

Like hell she'd break to a bunch of lizard-faced freaks. They were wasting their time with her, because she's done too much just to give the Pillar of Autumn up. Had she not delivered that AI to the ship, humanity would become extinct within the next few years. She basically ran and shot and drove through danger-infested lands to deliver an AI to the Pillar of Autumn. These Elites were going to have a hellish time trying to break her, because she wasn't going to give up all those souls, lost and still living, to a couple of ugly-ass Covies.

They had been trying for almost two straight days with no success, trying to break the Spartan, but to no avail. By the beginning of the third day, Six had been hung by her wrists, burned, electrocuted, maimed, suffocated, and beat to a pulp, constantly ordered to release information on the Pillar of Autumn. She never even spoke a word during the whole thing, the most they got from her were death glares and blood spat on their armor.

After their nearly pointless attempts to break Noble Six, the two Spec-Op elites were ordered to leave her holding cell. All they got as they left were two middle fingers from Six's shackled hands. If they were going to put her through hell, then they'd have to pull her along the trip themselves and end up just as burnt as her. After her two interrogators left her detention cell, the big-man finally stepped through: A high-ranking elite, outfitted in golden armor and equipped with a Concussion Rifle and an Energy Sword.

The beast strutted up to the chained spartan and loomed above her, his ugly maw only inches from her face. "You _will_ break, human. I will see to that myself."

Cocky fucker. Noble Six slammed her forehead into the Elite's face and knocked him back. She kept silent and watched as the General Elite's annoyance rose, her little action obviously putting a dent in his patience. It was actually kind of rewarding to see the alien scowl. For some odd reason, it wasn't intimidating or dominating. Probably because their beady little eyes made them look more like stuffed animals... really, _really_ fucking ugly ones.

The General growled at Noble Six and snapped an order at the two Spec-Op elites behind him. In response, they stepped forwards and deactivated the electromagnetic shackles, dropping Six to the floor. It was only when her legs refused to support any weight that she realized how much punishment she took in the last few days. Malnourishment and constant beatings put her on the edge of unconsciousness every second that she was in the detention cell. She could barely stay conscious, let alone stand.

Six was given no chances as the General picked her up by her neck and thumped her right in the stomach with a balled fist, then proceeded to throw her against the wall. The breath was knocked out of her and she once again began falling unconscious. However, the General barked another order at a Spec-Ops elites. The accompanying Sangheilis then pulled a small device from their hips and latched it to Six's neck. It was their form of the electric chair, but more painful than lethal in smaller doses.

Electricity shot up the spartan's body, and she couldn't help but let her voice to fall out in an agonized shout. Her consciousness forced itself to remain, and the beating continued. The golden-armored bastard tossed, punched, and kicked Six across the holding cell for what felt like minutes, the Spec-Op Elites coming in every once and a while to jolt the victim awake.

There were very few moments for Six to catch her breath, but one finally came along again. Her skintight suit was torn badly and worn down, only barely hiding the damage done to her. After she was beat so bad that every inch of her body felt incapable of moving, the General took a step back. It was hard to tell through his ugly mandibles, but the General was grinning, enjoying himself. It wasn't often he had the chance to strip down a spartan and punish them within an inch of their lives. He was going to relish in it for as long as he could. However, Six was losing consciousness again.

The General looked at his hand to see human blood all over it and flung it downwards, splattering some of the droplets on the cell wall. He then proceeded to order the Spec-Op Elites to re-energize Six. "I will stain this room with your blood, demon. You _will_ tell me about the ship, or-" The Elite never finished the sentence.

Interrupted by a deafening _crack_ and an array of gunfire, the high-rank bastard fell to the floor. Through both sides of his helmet, a violet liquid seeped out and mixed with Six's own patches of blood.

 **_oOo_**

 **20 Minutes Earlier**

 **Truth and Reconciliation, Gravity Lift Cargo Bay**

"We're in. I've got a good lock on the Captain's CNI transponder..." The AI paused for a second. "... No Covenant defenses detected."

Inside the cargo bay, a small team of marines took a look around. Just as the AI said, no aliens toting guns were closing in on them. One of the marines took a curious look around, a dumb grin on his face, and turned to the others. "What? There's no Covenant here? Maybe nobody's home." Nobody laughed.

It wasn't likely that they were in an empty ship. They were aboard a Covenant battle-cruiser. Surely there were supposed to be more... well, Covenant. And sure enough, there were. One of the four corridor entrances opened and a cloaked Sangheili came through it, armed with an energy sword. It charged towards the closes marine and prepared a huge overhead swing. However, it was tackled to the side before it had the chance to attack the marine. The elite's back hit the bay ground, its energy sword barely staying in-hand. The beast went to retaliate, but had no chance as the blade of a combat knife snuck up through its mandibles and into its brain, draining its shields and its active camouflage, and killing it instantly.

Above the slain Zealot was a looming, half-ton Spartan clad in green armor. The Spartan pulled the knife from his kill and sheathed it, then turned his attention back to the hallway doors. Each one of them was opening to reveal Covenant troops closing in on the small team of UNSC troops. They were vastly outnumbered 7 to 1, and the marines were slowly beginning to panic. Nonetheless, the massive Spartan shouldered his assault rifle and began opening fire on the closing forces.

Wave after wave of Covenant came through the corridors, but with the combined effort of the marines, they were able to repel the enemy and temporarily secure a break in the action. Bodies of Grunts, Jackals, and Elites all lay bloodied on the ground around the marines. Heavy breathing filled the room for a few seconds before one of the soldiers quietly said something. "...No Covenant... Ya _had_ to open your mouth," he groaned, glaring at the smart ass who made the sarcastic comment earlier on.

With a Mk. V Spartan leading the way, the team of marines made their way through the cruiser. Less than 48 hours ago, the Pillar of Autumn was shot down, most of its command team captured. Captain Jacob Keyes was included amongst the personnel imprisoned and brought onto the CCS-class Battlecruiser the Covenant labeled the "Truth and Reconciliation," and the marines marching through the corridors of that same ship were there to break him out. They made their way through the hangar bay, through countless corridors and pathways, then into the control room. It was there that most of the marines set up shop, leaving the Spartan to find Keyes. In a smaller group of only one, the soldier was able to quickly transverse through the ship until he got to the brig. However, when he made his way into the brig, he found no one there except for the bodies of a couple UNSC soldiers.

From within the Spartan's helmet, his accompanying AI shed some light on the situation. "We must be in the brig, these look like holding cells," she said. "Hmm... There are probably multiple detention stations. The Captain must be in one of them. We need to keep looking for him." The green Spartan nodded in agreement and moved one. Down a few hallways, he saw two patrolling jackals armed with Plasma Pistols and blue point-defense gauntlets. Easy targets. While they were walking the other way, the Spartan silently glided forwards and hid in an alcove, away from the sight of the two Kig-Yar. Once his motion sensors read two enemies only a couple meters away from him, he pounced, leaping from the alcove and stabbing his blade into one Jackal's chest. Once that kill was all but certain, the Spartan quickly pummeled the other one before it could fire off any rounds or make any noise.

The dual-assassination went off without any hint of discovery, allowing the Spartan to move on without giving away his position. He pulled the knife out of his victim then moved to an open doorway that revealed another detention station. In this one, he had much better luck with its contents. Up on the main platform was a Zealot with an Energy sword, and around the room were a few grunts here and there. The Spartan was about to move in when he noticed a few spots in the wall shimmer. He added a couple more Spec-Op Elites to the count of hostiles.

First priority was the Zealot on the platform, then the cloaked Elites, then the grunts. The Spartan quietly set down his assault rifle and pulled the Anti-Material Sniper Rifle from his back, then executed his targets in order. One shot to bring down the Zealot's shields, another right through its brain, then one each for the Spec-Op Elites. After taking down the Sangheili, the Spartan moved in with the assault rifle to finish off the grunt. Easy work.

The Spartan went to the controls and unlocked the cells. From inside the closest one to his right was their main objective: Captain Jacob Keyes. "Coming here was reckless," he said, his stern expression looking the Spartan up and down. "You two know better... Thanks." The Spartan nodded in affirmation.

Once the cells were open and the Spartan confirmed that Captain Keyes was among the survivors, the Captain armed all his soldiers with weapons from the fallen enemies. The plan was to retrieve the surviving command team of the Pillar of Autumn, then regroup for their next move. So far, half of that plan was complete. All they had to do now was make it out in one piece... or at least that was the plan.

The Spartan's AI picked something up. Usually, it wouldn't be of much interest, but the specific ID caught the AI's attention. "Chief, I'm picking up another transponder... It's nearby, but fading."

"Where?"

"Another detention station not far from here, I'll mark it on your HUD." No later after the AI finished her sentence, the Spartan's display marked a location about 150 meters away from the detention station they were in. Chief could go for it, but he'd risk his primary mission in the process. Captain Keyes was the main objective right now. The risk of losing him was too high already, going in for an unknown soldier was too risky... but it was another soldier nonetheless, and no man gets left behind.

The Spartan shouldered his rifle, catching the attention of Captain Keyes. "Sir, permission to search another detention station."

Keyes answered almost immediately. "Permission granted. Lead the way."

With weapons in tow, the group headed out for the next detention station, taking out what looked like a security patrol along the way. Nothing serious, just a few elites and grunts. Against five guns, they didn't stand a chance and quickly fell dead. As they got closer to the transponder, Chief's AI started wondering whether the transponder's ID was correct. She knew who it was, what the name said... but the transponder's ID just couldn't be right. The person it belonged to was still on reach, probably dead... unless...

Chief reached the set waypoint and peeked through the doors into the room. Sure enough, the layout was the same with a similar patrol: three Grunts, two cloaked Elites, and a main Elite leader. It looked identical to the last detention station group, except the main elite wasn't a Zealot this time... it was a General. The headdress and golden armor made that apparent, and it looked like the Elites were gathered around a specific cell. The door shield was down with the Spec-Op Elites guarding the doorway, and what sounded like metal hitting something soft from inside the cell. Chief held his hand out to signal the others to wait, then placed his assault rifle on his back. He pulled the sniper rifle up and looked through the scope.

Every once in a while the General would peak in and out, but the Spartan never had a clear shot. However, he was able to stay patient and wait for the perfect moment. The General peeked in and out, then moved out of sight for a while, then moved back out. His hand was tinted red, and he flung it. With the scope magnification, Chief could see that it was human blood. They were interrogating a human survivor. Fortunately, the General finally held still for the first moment in five minutes and the Spartan had a perfect opportunity. Gripping the rifle in his hands, Chief steadied his breathing and aimed for the center of the Elite's head. With a pull of the trigger, a deafening blast echoed through the room and the General fell to the floor. His golden helmet was now stained purple with a hole on each side.

The marines moved forward and aimed down the sights of their guns. "Open fire!" Combined fire from an assault rifle, a needler, and multiple plasma rifles lit up the remaining foes in the detention center. The Spec-Op Elites dropped dead before they could cloak, and the grunts... well, they always died quickly.

After the station's security team was down, Chief moved in to check the cells. All of them were empty except for one: the cell all three Elites were around. He stepped passed the bodies and his eyes fell to a woman curled up on the floor. She wasn't normal though. The Chief could tell from a mile away that this woman was a spartan. However, her body was beaten and tortured. If she didn't find immediate medical attention, she was as good as dead.

The marines moved closer and saw the carnage, absolutely baffled. One of them mumbled, "Another spartan? No way..."

The Captain noticed the unconscious woman's status and turned his attention to the bumbling marines. "Check those eyes and search for a med-kit, soldiers!"

"Yes sir!" All three marines began running around, searching bodies, cells, and containers for any med-kits. One of them opened a crate at the back of the room. He didn't find any med-kits, but he _did_ find the set of Spartan armor. Another marine flipped one of the Spec-Op Elites and found a kit. Probably was confiscated before the others were imprisoned. The marine ran back over to the chief and handed him the pack. The patch-up job was quick and sloppy... It would hold for now. The Chief hoisted the woman over his shoulders and picked up his rifle. Holding it with one hand was slightly difficult, but it was doable for the massive titan of a man.

His AI seemed a little worried though. "Just remember to keep your head down," she said.

"Always."

With the Captain and another survivor in tow, the group leveled their weapons and began heading to the hangar bays. Captain Keyes held his Needler up and nodded to the Chief. "All right marines, let's move out! Nickson, take point."

"Yes sir!"


	3. Straight Out of Hell

**From the Belly of the Beast**

* * *

"Cortana to Echo 419 - We have the captain and need extraction on the double."

"Negative, Cortana. I've been engaged by Covenant air patrols, and I'm havin' a tough time shakin' 'em. You'll be better off findin' your own ride… sorry."

"Acknowledged, Foe Hammer. Cortana out." Damn, so much for that option. Now they were stuck in the control room of a massive Battlecruiser with no way out. It was only a matter of time before more Covenant found them. It was hard enough with the team of marines, but carrying an unconscious, unarmored Spartan made it all the worse. Not to mention that the team Chief assaulted the ship with was killed after they set up in the control room. Two Spec-Op Elites with Energy Swords retook the bridge before Chief came back with the Captain and the rest of his surviving marines, then attacked them as well.

Still carrying the unconscious woman, Chief stepped over the body of a dead Elite while Cortana assessed the situation. Without a Pelican to get them out of there, the team of UNSC soldiers had no way out. "Air support is cut off, Captain," she said. "We need to hold here until she can move in."

"Oh great! Now we're trapped here. We're screwed!"

"Stow the bellyaching, solder. Remember you're a leatherneck." The marine took a deep breath and nodded his head, adjusting his helmet. "Cortana, if you and the Chief can get the chief into one of those Covenant dropships I can fly us outta here."

"Yes, Captain. There's a Covenant dropship still docked."

"Then we've got a ride outta here. Move out, marines!"

"Ooh-Rah!"

 **_oOo_**

The hangar bay was nearby. After a seemingly unlimited amount of corridors and junctions, Chief and the group of marines finally made it to the third floor on the hangar, and just as Cortana explained, there was a drop-ship still docked. Finally, a break from the firefights and tight spaces. Everyone was getting low on ammo. It was still pretty odd though.

Chief looked at the enormous room from the top floor and noticed the lack of enemy personnel walking around. "Why aren't there any Covenant in the hangar?"

"You probably killed them on your way in," Cortana replied. "We should get moving before they send any more Covenant. Double time it to the ship."

"Right." Master Chief holstered the Plasma Pistol he stole off the body of an Elite. He was still carrying the unconscious Spartan, but running with only in one hand securing her over his shoulder wouldn't do. Instead, he held her in both hands and began hustling to the corridors leading down to the second level where they'd be able to board the drop-ship. Captain Keyes and the other marines got the idea and took point in front of Chief.

They met very little resistance on the way to the second floor and got to the drop ship in little to no time. Keyes ran to the console and released the ship from its locks. "Alright marines! Load up." As the marines loaded up, Master Chief studied the Spartan they rescued. The skin-suit and size pointed to her probably being part of the Spartan III program, rather than the Spartan II Chief was a part of, and she was marginally smaller. She was still an average size for a spartan III, around six feet tall, but easily a foot shorter than Master Chief. Fortunately, that made it easier to carry her. Had it not been, there's almost no way they'd make it to the drop ship in-

"Hunters!" Cortana shouted. A glowing ball of green energy came from the opposite side of the hangar, right towards the Chief. The shot was going to miss him, but the area of effect damage would still hit him pretty hard if he stayed in place. Unfortunately, he had the girl in his hands with no time to dodge. If she got hit with the shock wave, she'd suffer too much additional internal damage to survive, and bleed out before they could get her to a combat surgeon. So Master Chief did the only thing he could think of in time: He turned and used his own body to shield the woman from the Hunter's fuel rod fire. The shot hit the platform just a few feet from the Chief and sent him flying, crashing back onto the ground five meters away with the girl still protected by his arms.

Chief groaned, his energy shields down, then motioned to the marines to take the unconscious Spartan onto the ship. "I'll take care of the Hunters, get her on board!" A couple of marines jumped back onto the platform and grabbed the girl while Chief got back up and ran back to the pathways towards the Hunters. Unfortunately, he didn't have his sniper rifle anymore and his assault rifle was threateningly low on ammo. He'd have to improvise this time.

The Hunters turned and fired on Chief, forcing him to dodge and take cover behind the pillars while his shields recharged until he closed in on the armored Covenant combatants. After dodging one more fuel rod round, Master Chief sprinted right into the first Hunter. It attempted to swat him away, but was out-maneuvered as Chief snaked around the heavy arm-shield. The second Hunter tried to hit him too, but only hit air as well. Master Chief pulled the plasma pistol from his side and fired into the gaps in one of the Hunter's armor while he had the chance. The opportunity was cut short as the other Hunter took another swat at him. Chief backed up and switched to his assault rifle. He fired a volley of rounds into one Hunter's helmet and got him dazed. Unfortunately, the rest of the ammo in the assault rifle's magazine ran out too quickly for it to do any real damage.

The Spartan threw his weapon down and held a grenade in hand, charging right back towards the Hunters. He jumped over a Hunter's attempt to swat him away and pulled the pin on the grenade, forcing the explosive into a crevice of its armor. A few seconds later, and bang. The explosion severed the Hunter's cannon arm and shredded any other exposed flesh, nearly instantly killing the heavy Covenant. It fell over and didn't move again.

Chief turned his attention to the other Hunter and aimed the Plasma Pistol. He fired a few shots before nearly overheating the gun, then dove away from a shot from the Hunter's cannon. The Spartan got back to his feet only to see the Hunter immediately attack with a massive shield-bash. This one was faster and harder to dodge, and knocked the Chief right in his side. He went sliding towards the edge of the platform and fell over the edge.

"Chief!" Cortana said. In a last ditch effort, the Spartan reached out and grabbed a hold of the ledge, hanging by his fingertips. The Hunter just looked down at him and stepped closer. It raised its arm and threatened to slam it down on Chief's only supporting hand, but never got the chance.

From his comms, Master Chief heard the Captain. "Hang on!" Only inches from Chief's fingers, one side of the drop-ship crushed the Hunter against the hangar wall. When the ship backed away, all that was left was a mess of shattered pieces of armor and orange goop.

The side of the drop ship opened up to reveal the Marines and the unconscious woman. One marine just jumped with excitement. "Oh yeah! Nice one, sir!"

"Hop aboard, Chief," Keyes said. "It's time for a little payback." Master Chief climbed back up the ledge and faced the drop ship's open bay door. They had completed their objectives up until now and had viable transportation out of the ship, but Chief noticed something else they should have done before they left. The unconscious, unarmored spartan in the drop ship made that apparent.

One of the marines spoke. "What are you waiting for, sir?"

Master Chief hesitated, looking between the other spartan and the marines. Cortana eventually caught on to his train of thought. "She's missing her suit," she said through comms. "Captain Keyes, permission to retrieve the armor."

"We've already risked too much, you two."

"We are aware, sir."

Master Chief heard the two talk back and forth. He understood both sides of the argument, but he had to side with Cortana. A spartan was much more effective with their armor, and they were crash-landed on a massive planet-sized ring with no way off. If they could gain any minute advantage, they'd have to.

The Captain eventually gave in and granted the two permission. "Alright. Radio in for pickup when you have the armor."

Chief nodded. "Sir."

"Wait!" One of the marines jumped out of the drop ship. "I'm coming with. I know where the armor is."

Risking his life for a suit of armor. Perhaps the marine knew just as well as John did that such an advantage was worth the risk. Admirable, very much so. Master Chief bowed his head to the marine in recognition.

"I expect you three to come back in one piece. Good luck," Captain Keyes said.

"Understood, Captain."

As Keyes took off in the Covenant drop ship with everyone else in tow, John found himself almost regretting the choice to delay their retreat to safety for a suit of armor. However, this was another spartan they were talking about, someone who could earn them an invaluable advantage in their situation. Master Chief understood that very well.

The marine that stayed behind held his hand out. "Private Dover. It's an honor, sir."

Master Chief shook his hand. "Lead the way."


	4. Still a Noble

**Surprise, surprise, this story is still alive! This story was just too fun and interesting to forget, even if it has been ages since I worked on it. I will attempt to add to it as often as possible. No promises.**

 **On a separate note, I do have an overall story planned out, but I am open to ideas. I'm not the biggest lore nut for the Halo universe, so if you see anything that isn't lore-accurate, or have an interesting idea you would like to share, feel free to PM me.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Still a Noble**

Unconscious on a salvaged seat repurposed as a bed, Six slept restlessly. Her body twisted and turned as the nightmares of her capture and her torture replayed over and over in her head. The scene may have just been a dream, but the pain felt real. A carbon copy of when she was aboard the Covenant Cruiser. It still hurt, and Six hated that it did. Her limbs, her muscles, her skin... her face; everything hurt.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally awoke from her nightmare. She was completely dry and her skin was flaking terribly. Six exhaled slowly, placing a hand on her other forearm. Had she still been wearing her skin-tight suit for her Spartan armor, Six's irritated skin would drive her crazy. However, her torn up skin-suit was off to the side, neatly folded on a silver surface lighted by blue circuits running along-side it. Confused, Six looked around. The floors, the walls, and the ceiling of the enormous hall she was in were all running with a similar circuit-based pattern. It was unfamiliar to her, neither UNSC nor Covenant.

Six made an effort to sit up, but was stopped by the pain resonating in her supporting arm. She collapsed back down onto the bed. Her wounds were still too great. Unable to move off the bed, Six scanned the room. Around her were other beds similar to hers, each one with an injured UNSC marine on it: Some were asleep, while others were awake and suffering. Medics were walking around treating the most severe wounds, prioritizing the most time sensitive cases.

Six tried to get up again, but was once again stopped by the immense pain. "Whoa whoa whoa. Relax, Spartan." A medic walked over to her and place a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down onto the cushions. The medic was a rather small man, especially without the standard Medic ammo and equipment kit around him. It was set down off in a corner of the hall.

He folded his arms and shook his head, a goofy smile plastered to his face. "You're a hardy soldier if I've ever seen one, Ma'am. You're not even supposed to be awake." The medic temporarily left to grab his kit and brought it back to Six. "You have a few deep cuts and bruises. They've been treated, but they need some time to heal. Just rest."

For the first time since Six could remember, rest sounded good... But still... she didn't know where she was. It bugged her. The fact that the place looked like a non-permanent infirmary didn't help. She leaned back on the padding and closed her eyes, trying her best to sink into the cushions. "Where are we?"

"In one of the installations near where a lot of us landed."

"Be less specific. What planet?"

"..." The man furrowed his brow. "Where have you been?" He looked back down at his pack and ruffled through the contents for seemingly no reason. "God only knows where we are."

"What do you mean by that?" Six sat back up, but unsurprisingly was once again met by extensive pain. She ignored it.

" _Rest_. I'll tell you once your up and walking." After a brief pause, Six fell back onto the cushions, closed her eyes, and tried to sleep as the medic left. She fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

 **_oOo_**

Six came to again, her chest rising and falling in a rhythmic pace. The spartan opened her eyes and looked around again. There were nearly twice as many injured marines as when she first woke up, but twice as many medics and combat surgeons. That meant that more and more of the Pillar of Autumn crew were finding their footing. It was a little relieving.

She placed a hand on the cushions and attempted to push herself to a sitting position. Her limbs didn't hurt nearly as much as they did the first time, and she could comfortably sit upright. Thank god for that. Six continued and attempted to stand up. Her legs felt heavy, and her arms were a little weak, but she was able to stand up and support herself on the wall. Her body was all bandaged up from top to bottom, even her face had plenty of wrapping around it. It wasn't the most comfortable thing ever.

Six grabbed the bandages around her head and pulled them off, feeling around for the bruises and cuts. There was almost nothing there, just a few bumps here and there where cuts used to be. She was doing just fine. Six took a deep breath in and released it along with her previous tension. Although she still didn't know where she was or what the hell was going on, she felt a lot better physically, not to mention she felt rather satisfied that Elite General fuck got his brains blown out right in front of her.

"Nice to see you up and walking. About time I introduce myself. I'm Sam." The same medic from before walked up to her carrying his kit and pack. He held out his hand to shake. Compared to her, he was very short, nearly a full foot smaller. It wasn't all that surprising because she was a spartan, but at the same time, that meant the dude was only around 5 feet tall. A stump little medic.

Six dropped the thought. "Tell me what happened. Everything starting from the evacuation of Reach."

"Oh," the medic dropped the pack he was carrying. "Straight to it, I see... I'll tell you. At least sit down while I remove your bandages." Six promptly sat back down and the man began removing her bandages. Underneath the covers while she was still laying down, Six hadn't noticed that she had been dressed in a tank-top and camouflage cargo pants by someone else. After all, the skin-tight suit for her spartan armor was folded over next to where she slept.

Sam removed the bandages from her right wrist, scar tissue still around the stab wounds. "Okay. The Pillar of Autumn blind jumped once it was free of Reach's orbit. When we came out of slip-space though, the Covenant were already there. The Autumn got hit _bad_. The nearest "planet" we could land her on was... well, _this._ It's not even really a planet, it's a giant ring next to another planet."

"... A ring?"

"I know. Sounds crazy. I'll show you outside once you're walking. Anyways, all the lifeboats ejected while the Captain tried to land the ship on the ring. He did it, but he got captured by a group of split-lip... Everyone was running around like chickens with their heads chopped off. Luckily, someone found the Captain and broke him free... a couple hours later he drops in flying a Covenant Dropship. Funny thing is he actually came here with you in tow, handed you off and went flying away just as fast."

Once the medic removed the rest of Six's bandages, he tossed them in a plastic biohazard container. "So yeah. We're on a giant ring in space running away from the Covenant."

Six stood up and nodded her head to the medic. "Thank you."

"Are you already leaving?"

"Yes."

"But... your suit isn't here, you don't have a kit, and we don't even have a spare rifle for you. You're kinda dead in the water." Six exhaled and rubbed the scars on her arm. The short medic had a point. She had no equipment anymore. Wherever her suit was, it was far from where she was, and Six wasn't sure if she was in any shape to fight, not without her armor.

The spartan took a deep breath through her nose, the smell of blood and disinfectant agents flooding her nostrils. She didn't like the smell. "Where is Captain Keyes?" she asked.

"On his way back now. He should be here in a couple hours. In the meantime, find your bearings. I'll notify you of when he arrives."

"Thank you." Six sat back down as the medic took off to take care of others.

Through the entire conversation, she hadn't noticed that she had been clenching her teeth. Six tried to relax, ignoring the odd taste in her mouth and sitting back on the bed she was on. She'll figure out what is going on.

 **_oOo_**

In the bay of a hijacked Spirit Dropship, two people stood next to a Covenant supply case. One was UNSC infantry, the other was a SPARTAN-II soldier. Superficial plasma burn marks charred and scorched the surface of both of their kits. Paired with the purples, blues, and oranges of extraterrestrial blood on his arms, John-117 and Private Dover could have been passed off as a modern art sculptures.

John lifted his helmet off and took a deep breath. The dimly lit compartment was easy on his eyes. The smell on his armor, however, was not nearly as friendly. If someone told him that the Covenant were made of hot tar and rotten eggs, he would believe them.

The dropship banked to the side, forcing John and Dover to reach up and grab a hold on the ceiling of the bay to steady himself. Once the ship leveled back out, John set his helmet down. The supply case next to him was strapped down using a few jury rigged restraints. They weren't industrial-grade, but they would hold long enough.

"We're coming up on the fire base, Chief." Cortana said. Chief nodded and put his helmet back on as the ship descended onto the tarmac. With a quick shift and a thump, the Dropship settled down into its spot and its engines shut off. The doors opened and sunlight spilled into the bay. UNSC personnel were filing to and from the nearby structure, a few watching with slightly befuddled expressions as the Chief and Dover pulled a heavy crate from the ship's bay.

Shortly after, Captain Keyes walked out of the ship himself. "With me to the debriefing," he said, facing the two. "Others will deliver the armor."

As Master Chief followed Keyes towards the structure, a forklift passed them and stopped in front of the crate, picking it up and heading off to another entrance of the structure. Chief could only assume that the armor was going to its owner, of who he still didn't know the identity of. "Cortana, who is the spartan we rescued?"

"SPARTAN-B312, a Lieutenant. She was last deployed to Reach as a part of a spartan group, designation Noble Team… also responsible for getting me to the Pillar of Autumn safely." The group went inside the building and passed a security checkpoint. "Her record is extensive. I can't say much, but she used to be a Grim Reaper of sorts."

"She was your escort?"

"My courier, to be more specific. She's the main reason the Pillar of Autumn even made it off of Reach. Without her, the Pillar would have been glassed."

"And her team?"

"One made it out, Jun-A226, four others were confirmed KIA, and up until now, she herself had been declared MIA." Master Chief and the others entered a sectioned off room with a large table in the center, a makeshift briefing room. "By the looks of it, the Covenant captured her and interrogated her in an attempt to learn about the Pillar of Autumn. Doesn't look like they got anything from her though."

Everyone settled in the room. About fifteen people were around the table, Captain Keyes at the head of it, Sergeant Johnson and Master Chief at his sides, and the other involved marines around the rest of it. They began the debriefing.

 **_oOo_**

 **22 Hours Later**

Six woke up to a woman tapping her forehead. Once she was awake, the woman sat down and began fiddling with something. The woman wore glasses over a set of small brown eyes surrounded by thin wrinkles and crow's feet. She was dressed in the jumpsuit that non-combatant Pillar of Autumn crew members wore, hunched with a few slim tools in hand over an illuminated table set up by Six's bed. Six had no clue what she was working on. When she leaned up to see, she noticed her own armor off to the side, neatly and anatomically organized on a tarp spread on the floor. The woman beside her was repairing her undersuit on the table, patching any rips or irregularities in the fabric.

"Your armor had been forced open." The woman had a strong Sopronian accent. She set her tools aside and pulled the thick square spectacles off the bridge of her nose. With a slight pause, she stood up out of her seat and picked up the left gauntlet of Six's armor, rotating the piece as if she were inspecting a fine diamond. "The locks were bent badly, and most of the systems were short-circuiting, even the failsafes. You are very lucky it did not shock you to death. Isten ajándéka."

 _Isten ajándéka_ , Hungarian meaning Gift from God. Six's jaw tightened a little as she glared through her scarred, guilty hands. Her prolonged existence wasn't a gift, and definitely not one from god. If Six ever received heavenly guidance, it would come in the form of a quick death. The spartan straightened back up. "Is the armor still functional?"

"It is now. When it was brought to me, it wasn't. The outer plating was almost irreparably warped, and the insulation on the shielding alternators would have fallen apart if a current any higher than 1,000 amps went through them. That wouldn't do for equipment that requires at least 10,000 amps."

The woman set the gauntlet back down, continuing her assessment of Six's armor. "The set was salvageable though. Any damage heavy enough to pierce the armor plating was on replaceable components. Your helmet was more challenging to repair, but its SIOS firmware was intact. I am surprised that was not among the damaged components. Had it been, no repairs I could have done would have made the armor functional again. Az ördög szerencse."

 _Az ördög szerencse_ , Luck of the Devil. Six believed that one much more. She exhaled, her breathing much steadier than it was a couple hours ago. It was a relief to know her armor was still intact. Still, one thing confused her more than anything else. Six had thrown her helmet down on Reach, right before she was captured. It should have been glassed, next to all the dead Covenant she left there, so why was it there with the rest of her armor? Only reason the rest of her armor was there was because she had been wearing it when the Covenant detained her. The only reasonable explanation Six could think of was that her captors consciously grabbed the helmet and brought it along with them. Why though?

Six dropped the thought for the moment, leaning forward to inspect the newly repaired pieces of her kit. "Is there anything missing?"

The technician shook her head. "All the armor is here."

"What about the pouches? Was there anything in those?"

Six would have guessed the woman knew exactly what the spartan was referencing, because she walked over to a corner of the tarp where several pouches were spread out, organized neatly in a grid-system. The woman picked out one of the pouches and brought it over to Six. Six opened it and pulled out four pairs of dog tags. As Six looked at each one, brushing the dust off of them, the technician beside her sat back in her chair. "Your brothers and sisters?"

"In arms."

After a moment of silence, the technician bowed her head. "Mindig hűséges. May the fallen rest in peace."

 _Mindig hűséges_ , Always Faithful. Six reflected on each pair she held. Jorge, Kat, Emile… and Carter. His hit her the worst. Jorge had given her his tags with a resolved grin on his face. He willingly went, torn apart by slipspace in a matter of milliseconds. Six had to pull Kat's and Emile's tags off their dead bodies, but their deaths were quick.

Carter forced his tags into her hands long before he died. In a Pelican flying over Aszod, seconds before she bailed out into the canyons below alongside Emile, Six could see the pain in Carter's eyes, buried beneath a stone cold facade that had formed long before he became a spartan. He was scared, afraid, no matter how well he hid it.

He bled and bled for ten minutes before he dove his Pelican directly into a Scarab over the cliffside, falling in a tangle of fire and shrapnel to the rocks far below. Carter's death was a slow one, one he didn't deserve, courtesy of the Covenant.

"Mindig hűséges," Six repeated, putting each pair of tags back in the pouch. A sour taste in her mouth lingered as the technician put the pouch back in its assigned spot on the tarp. Six stood up and stretched, arching her back with her hands over her head. She felt well rested, having slept for a full 24 hours after being rescued, and was ready to get back to work. "Who do I report to?"

"Directly to Captain Keyes. Get dressed. Someone will escort you after we get your armor on."

"Directly to the Captain?"

"Yes. Now hurry!"

After Six changed into her undersuit and dawned her armor with the help of the technician, she stepped out of the makeshift infirmary. It seemed like something big was going on because everyone was marching with haste through the corridors. It was organized chaos. Six almost didn't notice that a 7 foot tall SPARTAN-II soldier was standing on the other side of the doorway.

"Noble Six, this is the Master Chief," the technician said, borderline shouting above the noise. "He will escort you to Captain Keyes!" Six watched as the aforementioned spartan approached her and extended his hand out to her. Last time she met a member of the SPARTAN-II program was when she met Noble Team. Everyone except for Jorge was third generation. Six extended her arm and shook SPARTAN-117's hand.

"Noble Six."

Six noticed his voice was low and gruffy, yet still audible amongst the commotion. Six nodded her head in affirmation. "Master Chief, sir."

The Chief dropped his hand back to his side and turned to walk down the corridor. Six matched pace. "Captain Keyes is waiting top-side. You will be briefed once we're airborne."

"Airborne, sir?"

"Affirmative."

As the two walked through the halls, Six heard her integrated headset hiss to life with an incoming local transmission. The voice was familiar. It sounded like Dr. Halsey, but less condescending. "SPARTAN-B312, glad to see you alive and kicking."

The female spartan was silent for only a moment before she opened her voice channel and sent a transmission back. "Who is this?" she asked.

"The Pillar of Autumn's ship AI, Cortana. What do you know about our situation so far?"

"The Autumn crash landed on a planet-sized ring and the Covenant are hunting the survivors."

"Unfortunately, it's more than that," Cortana corrected. "We _are_ crash landed, and the Covenant _are_ hunting us down, but it isn't _just_ a ring. It's a weapon capable of wiping out life on a galactic scale, and is of very high religious importance to the Covenant. If they gain control of it, they can wipe humanity out."

Under different circumstances, Six wouldn't be able to tell whether the whole thing was a damn joke or not… But things have been crazy enough that Cortana's claim didn't sound too far out there. Six went with it. "What's our course of action?"

"Prevent the Covenant from accessing the weapon's control room. I was able to pull some data from the structure we set up in and found out that the ring has a cartographer, a map we can use to locate the control room. It's in a building system about 2,000 klicks from here. Captain Keyes is mounting an assault on it. He's hoping we can locate the control room before the Covenant do. You'll lead the charge alongside the Master Chief."

"Understood." Six and the Chief came out of the tunnels to open air. Half a dozen Pelicans were stocked full of marines, ready to go when the order is given. However, they were waiting. In front of the only Pelican with two open seats stood the Captain himself, Jacob Keyes. The two spartans stopped a few feet in front of him and saluted.

"At ease." Six and the Chief stood relaxed with their hands behind their backs. Captain Keyes turned to look Six in the visor. "Glad to have you back, Noble."

"Glad to be back, sir."

"I assume Cortana vaguely briefed you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you understand what is at stake?"

"I understand, sir."

"Good. You and the Master Chief are the spearhead of this operation. Secure the Cartographer, and find the control room."

"Yes, sir."

Keyes saluted the two and ushered them onto the Pelican, backing up to a safe distance. "Godspeed, spartans." Each ship's thrusters roared louder, blue flames of the jets threatening to burn the grass before the bodies of the ships they belonged to lifted off the ground. Six watched Captain Keyes as the bay doors slowly closed shut, the warm light of the ring's artificial star slowly being replaced by the dull blue-white glow of the Pelican's light fixtures.

Noble Six leaned back in her seat, her visor facing the ceiling. The mission was straightforward enough, but years and years of experience taught Six that straightforward almost never meant easy. They would come across heavy resistance and heavy losses. Their goal was a super-weapon, and the Covenant would stop at nothing to gain control of it. It wouldn't be easy.

But she was still a Noble, and it wouldn't be a Noble mission if it were easy.


End file.
